The pickup, scheduled to debut in 2025, aims to build on the success of the F-150 Lightning plug-in truck that’s underpinning the automaker’s ambitious – and costly – push into the EV market. Demand for the model drove Ford to expand capacity at the Stanton, Tennessee, factory that’s under construction to produce half a million trucks a year, about 40 per cent more than the company forecast in November.
The plant – Ford’s first all-new assembly facility in a half-century – is part of a $5.6 billion compound known as BlueOval City that will include a sprawling battery factory by South Korea’s SK On, a unit of SK Innovation. The six-square mile complex is due to open in 2025 and employ 6,000 workers.
The automaker is pouring $50 billion into developing and building EVs by 2026 as it chases Tesla, which controls two-thirds of the US market for battery-powered models. Ford has set a goal of an 8 per cent margin on EV earnings before interest and taxes by 2026.